Fight against smugglers

Half as many migrants are now arriving in Italy

Migrants in Italy (archive image)

(Bild: AP)

So far this year, only half as many migrants have arrived in Italy as usual. This is according to the latest figures from the Italian Ministry of the Interior. Most of them come from Bangladesh, Syria and Tunisia.

Since the beginning of the year, 33,896 migrants have arrived on Italian shores. In the same period last year, there were more than twice as many, at 89,401 people. This time, most of the arrivals come from Bangladesh (7,126), Syria (5,149) and Tunisia (4,201). 4188 of them are unaccompanied minors.

Last year, the Italian government drafted the so-called Mattei Plan, which provides for "equal and beneficial" partnerships with African countries and countries bordering the Mediterranean, among other things. This is intended to strengthen cooperation against people smuggling, for example. The government now also attributes the decline in arrivals to its plan.

Italian-Albanian pact
The authorities want to take boat refugees they take on board their ships in the Mediterranean to camps in Albania, for example. Asylum applications would then also be examined there. The two governments concluded an agreement on this last year, according to which the Italian leadership will bear all "direct and indirect costs". Around 670 million euros have been budgeted.

A rescued child on the Italian coast (archive image)

(Bild: ANSA)

According to Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the Gjadër camp should have been ready for operation in May of this year. The deadline had to be postponed several times, with arguments including technical problems that would delay construction. In addition, the construction workers were no longer able to work full-time due to the summer heat.